The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has issued new guidance to help employers ensure they protect their workforce from harassment.

The new guidance explains employers’ legal responsibilities and the practical steps they should take to prevent and respond to harassment and victimisation at work. It also provides advice for workers to help them understand the law and their employer’s obligations to prevent harassment and victimisation, or to respond to their complaint.

Building on the findings and recommendations from EHRC’s Turning the tables report, its new guidance has drawn from a wide range of experiences of harassment and expertise from a variety of individuals and employers to develop solutions that can be used in any workplace and against any form of harassment.

Rebecca Hilsenrath, chief executive at the Equality and Human Rights Commission, said:

“It is time for all employers to step up action against misconduct and protect their staff from harassment. It’s been two years since #MeToo forced sexual harassment to the top of the agenda.

“No form of harassment can ever be justified and for too long the onus has been on the victim to challenge inappropriate treatment. By setting out legal requirements and providing practical examples on preventing and responding to harassment, we hope that our guidance will shift the burden back on to employers.”

The new technical guidance explains the different forms that harassment and victimisation can take under the Equality Act. It also reiterates that certain types of behaviour such as physical gestures, jokes or pranks, banter and physical behaviour towards a person or their property, can amount to harassment or sexual harassment even if that is not how it was intended by the perpetrator.

EHRC has also published a list of seven steps every employer should consider taking to ensure they are doing all they can to prevent and deal with sexual harassment in the workplace.

These are:

• Develop an effective anti-harassment policy;
• Engage staff with regular one-to-ones and have an open door policy;
• Assess and mitigate risks in the workplace;
• Consider using a reporting system that allows workers to raise an issue anonymously or in name;
• Train staff on what sexual harassment in the workplace looks like, what to do if workers experience it and how to handle complaints;
• Act immediately when a harassment complaint is made; and
• Treat harassment by a third-party just as seriously as that by a colleague.